Motown Recording Studios (Detroit)
Motown Recording Studios (or "Hitsville Recording Studios") was the unofficial name of the recording studios of the Motown Corporation between 1959 and 1973, based in Detroit . Since they were an organizational part of the Motown group and did not form an independent company, there was no official company name for them.
History of origin
Berry Gordy Jr. founded the independent label Tamla Records on January 12, 1959 , for which he was initially looking for artists. He found Marv Johnson and Barrett Strong in particular . The music recordings with these and other artists had to be recorded in four external recording studios in Detroit, namely in addition to the United Sound Studio , Special Recordings , BB Productions and Ecolic Recorders before he set up his own studios. In the United Sound also emerged Got a Job (March 1958) and Bad Girl (July 1959) of the Miracles . The first single from Tamla Records was by Marv Johnson Come to Me / Whisper , which was created in 7 takes by United Sound in January 1959 and was released on February 21, 1959 (Tamla # 101). With this, Johnson reached sixth place on the R&B charts.
On August 2, 1959, Gordy purchased a detroit single-family home (2648 West Grand Blvd) for $ 10,500, which he named "Hitsville". In the same month he set up recording studios with used equipment from the recording studio BB Productions belonging to radio disc jockey Bristoe Bryant (WJLB) . One was recorder Ampex - Two track recorder , mixer , a Western Electric , the Falcons hit You're so fine (in January 1959) was recorded. The recording studio was built in the former garage, the sound technology was installed in the basement. Gordy was able to finance these investments from royalties on the Marv Johnson hit Come to Me . In August 1959, the first recording for the Miracles with Way Over There / Depend on Me was made there , but only a first take without violins. The final mixing took place at United Sound in December 1959 (released April 4, 1960). The title was the first song distributed by Motown itself and sold 60,000 copies. Only after about two months was the studio set up for usable sound recordings. However, there were still technical problems in the studio, so Mary Wells was re-recorded at United Sound . There producer Robert Bateman even needed 22 takes, released in September 1960 ( Bye Bye Baby ; 8th place on the R&B charts).
The first recording without the help of other recording studios in "Hitsville" was Money (That's What I Want) with singer Barrett Strong. The cast consisted of the future core of the Funk Brothers Joe Hunter (piano) and Benny Benjamin (drums) with a Tomtom - Beat and Brian Holland (Tambourine and sound engineer) and a guitarist named Eugene E. Grew. First published in August 1959 at Tamla Records, then again on December 10, 1959 at Anna Records the song that reached No. 2 Rhythm and Blues - charts and number 23 on the pop charts.
Eddie Holland, later part of the successful team of authors Holland – Dozier – Holland , recorded 22 titles as an interpreter between January 1962 and September 1964. From now on, the Motown Group's big hits were created in the Group's own recording studios. The Detroit Symphony Orchestra and its violin section were first used by Jamie (mixed on January 25, 1962) by Eddie Holland and later became an integral part of the Motown sound. The Funk Brothers and authors / producers such as Holland-Dozier-Holland, Barrett Strong / Norman Whitfield or Nicholas Ashford / Valerie Simpson were permanent guests in the narrow recording studios . They called the claustrophobic studios "Snake pit".
From now on, hits were mass-produced in the studios. The Supremes had their first number one hit with Where Did Our Love Go (April 8, 1964) , which contained the basic formula of their enormous success. Composed and produced by Holland-Dozier-Holland, the sound lives from opposing voices -harmonies, the instrumental line-up by the Funk Brothers, whereby the drummer's rimshot technique works almost entirely without the usual drum rolls. Antonio "Tony" Newton acted as bass guitarist, while Andrew "Mike" Terry played the baritone saxophone for the instrumental part. This concept of a cyclical song structure was also used in the next million sellers such as Baby Love (August 13, 1964), Come See About Me (October 29, 1964), Stop! Consistently used in the Name of Love (January 11, 1965) or Back in My Arms Again (February 24, 1965). The Four Tops were produced in a similar way for their million-sellers such as I Can't Help Myself (April 9, 1965) or Reach Out I'll Be There (July 27, 1966). Stevie Wonder's hit Uptight (October 15, 1965) was also striking , a well-orchestrated recording with a convincing brass section, violin parts and thunderstorm-like drum rolls by Benny Benjamin .
When the Motown Corporation moved into the 10-story office building "Donovan Building" in Detroit (2457 Woodward Avenue) in 1968 , the recording studios were still used for music recordings. The Jackson Five first introduced themselves in the new Donovan Building on July 23, 1968.
Studio A and Studio B
The practically full studio A was only closed between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. for cleaning work. In 1965, Motown Records had long since advanced to become a mass producer of sound carriers , so that optimal utilization of the studio capacities was guaranteed within the framework of a 7-day week with 22 hours of daily availability. An echo chamber with German technology was installed here. Because of the narrow space, overdubs were necessary, and it also required special placement of the microphones. At first the tambourine was too loud because it was recorded together with the drums. The Wall of Sound was adapted by using two bass guitars or drums. The second instruments should fill in the rhythmic gaps left by the primary instruments. Stereotype was always kept in the same order for sound recordings. First the rhythm track was created, then the vocals, further percussion (congas, bongos or tambourines), then wind and violin sections. The intensive use of Studio A also had an impact on the income of the studio musicians . Bassist James Jamerson is reported to have made around $ 100,000 annually from his 7-day week. The three-lane technology was used until April 1964, after which the eight-lane technology was used.
Studio B was added when Motown acquired local record competitor Golden World Records for $ 1 million in September 1966 , which also included Golden World Studios (3246 West Davison Street), which was built in January 1961 . Chief engineer here was Mike McLean, who in 1964 had developed a four-track stereo device for 760 meters of tape. With the takeover in 1966, Russ Terrana joined Motown as a sound engineer. Terrana joined Motown with You Can't Hurry Love for the Supremes (July 5, 1966) and was involved in the production of 89 Motown number-one hits. The larger Studio B was henceforth used for the orchestral overdubs (wind and violin sections), Studio A continued to be used for the rhythm tracks . The music producers Norman Whitfield / Barrett Strong increasingly used orchestral and more complex instrumentation for the Temptations and were thus able to make full use of the spacious Studio B. Ball of Confusion (April 14, 1970) was an example of the textual departure from simple love problems towards socially critical issues. For Marvin Gaye's trend-setting LP What's Going On (recorded between June 1, 1970 and March to May 1971) the rhythm track and other parts were created in Studio A, while the reverb effects were produced at United Sound ; In addition to Studio B, the Sound Factory in Los Angeles was also used. The LP was a radical departure from the standard Motown sound and turned the "snakepit" into a progressive, jazz-influenced studio.
move
When the Motown group moved completely from Detroit to Los Angeles in June 1972 , the recordings in the "snakepit" were stopped and the entire building was turned into a public museum. In Los Angeles, the recording studios were not built in the new administration building (5750 Wilshire Blvd.), but as Mowest studios on Melrose Avenue. First recordings here took place for Bobby Darin's first LP for Motown (LP Bobby Darin ) in August 1972. The move meant not only a local turning point, but also a personal one. All Funk Brothers were no longer available in Los Angeles. Motown instead hired studio musicians from Los Angeles-based The Wrecking Crew . The classic - albeit by no means homogeneous - Motown sound was finally history.
Individual evidence
- ↑ The master tape was handed over to Gordy on February 8, 1959 ("2-8-59").
- ↑ He also played with Please Mr. Postman from the Marvelettes .
- ↑ Jack Ryan, Recollections: The Motown Sound by the People Who Made It , 2011, p. 94 f.
- ↑ Mark Ribovsky, Signed, Sealed And Delivered: The Soulful Journey of Stevie Wonder , 2010 S. 136th
- ↑ demolished in January 2006
- ↑ a b Mark Ribovsky, The Supremes: A Saga of Motown Dreams , 2010, p. 191 f.
- ↑ Classic Tracks: Marvin Gaye - What's Going On? , SoundonSound from July 2011.
- ↑ Michael Eric Dyson, Mercy Mercy Me: The Art, Loves And Demons of Marvin Gaye , 2008, no page number